There’s a punk rock bacchanal parading across America this summer, and Culture Abuse is in the driver’s’ seat.
Punk politics aside, they’ve worked their asses to get here. The Bay Area quintet shook the independent music world at large with its catchy blend of roaring grunge and upbeat punk with a hard DIY edge and focus on its 2015 effort, Peach. Thankfully, touring has always been one of the band’s strong suits; Culture Abuse has supported a wide variety of acts, from Maryland hardcore heavyweights Cruel Hand, to Joyce Manor, Wavves, and many more. This is, perhaps, what ascended the group to sign to punk giants Epitaph for its critically-heralded sophomore effort, Bay Dream.
Now the group is on the heels of its first national headlining tour, which features acts such as longtime friend and singer-songwriter Tony Molina, California hardcore youngbloods Dare, and Virginia rapper Lil Ugly Mane, among others. It’s an ambitious effort for a band that’s only been around for six years.
Thankfully, Las Vegans will get a taste of the punk rock parade when Culture Abuse performs at Emerge Impact + Music festival on May 31 alongside rapper/singer Doja Cat and many others. We spoke with guitarist Nick Bruder about the band’s headlining tour, punk ethos, and their previous gig in Vegas.
Culture Abuse has really taken off over the past three years; Peach and Bay Dream have allowed you to tour world. Not too long ago, you were all living in your practice space in Oakland. How does it feel?
It’s fucking wild. Things with the band are changing slowly, but surely. I think we’re all pretty nomadic, and a few of us have been in bands before this, so we can handle touring well.
[With the success of the band] a few of us have better places to live, and I think it’s really cool that you can attribute that to this thing we’ve create together. I never thought that we’d ever make it to Europe, and here we are–about to hit it for the third time this year alone. That’s insane to me, and I think about it a lot.
And when it comes time to be creative, we get to do our own thing. David [Kelling, vocals] gets to say whatever he wants, and it miraculously sounds so good. So yeah, it’s been a lot of fun [laughs].
Did you see any of it coming?
Not necessarily. Once we signed to Epitaph, we saw beyond the stars in our eyes and saw it as an opportunity to go for it. So we went head-on. We have experience playing in previous bands where we’ve tried really hard, and we really wanted to make it work, but it just doesn’t.
It’s easier to make a leap of faith and take a chance on your art with a solid backing. [When Epitaph approached us,] we thought it was really cool that someone believed in us enough to support us and what was to come from the band.
Culture Abuse’s love for the Bay Area is no secret. How does that resonate in your music?
That’s a tough one. Many of us grew up in the Bay Area, so I think it’s just something that’s a part of us and the Culture Abuse sound. It’s hard to explain; there’s a certain drive and energy in the air, and you can hear it from the music the area produces. And there’s a sincerity to it, too. That’s just how it’s shaped.
We all grew up listening to bands like Rancid, Green Day, all the sick Bay punk bands like Operation Ivy … there are so many, and I feel like they all shape Bay Area music. We’re glad to be a part of that.
How’d you pick the bands on your upcoming US tour? You’ve got a wide variety: Tony Molina, Regional Justice Center, Young Guv…
That was pretty much all David. He just put on the bands that we loved, and we’re always down for a wild lineup. Our record release show for Bay Dream was nuts, with 10-12 bands all playing sets that were short, but sweet. We thought that was really cool, and figured we’d take a similar approach for a tour across America, with people we thought were awesome. We met most of them through touring.
[This time,] we’ve got Tony Molina, our good friend whose been doing stuff for years. It’s going to be so rad seeing that guy play every night; he’s amazing. And yeah, we’ve got a few bands like Razorbumps and ARMY who are hoppin’ on select dates throughout the tour. Those are our friends, too. It’s fun doing things like this in a big group because everyone’s sick. And this time is different, too, because it’s the first time we’re headlining a full U.S. tour.
Culture Abuse is adamant about keeping its DIY/punk ethos and aesthetic in everything from how albums are put together, how fliers look, and even who you pick to support you on the road. It’s entirely intentional. Why is that so important to you?
Most of the art is done by David or John [Jr, guitar], so you got to hand it to them. It’s really cool that their two styles kind of tie into each other … John’s actually done all of our record covers, and almost every shirt. That’s wild to think about.
And just like what we were talking about with the [Bay], it’s cool that you’re able to see a piece of merch and know that it’s a Culture Abuse piece. It doesn’t even have to say “Culture Abuse” specifically to put on that vibe; you know it’s there. That’s amazing to me!
[To promote this run of shows] David spent a shitload of time in the Epitaph office using the hell out of their Xerox machines. He’s really good at making some interesting designs, and he came up with all the fliers we’re using for the tour. It’s really cool that we’re still able to do that at this stage of being in a band.
Last time you played here was at American Legion Post 8, on a bill with Citizen, Spirit World, and Goner …
That show was cool, but really strange. We had another drummer at the time, and he was only able to learn like four songs in order to play this show. We just thought “fuck it, we’ll rock this show and just hang for a while,” so we did. Someone had a bright idea to turn off all the lights, which kinda made it weird, but we were still having fun. Vegas is always a blast.
Catch Culture Abuse at Emerge + Impact Music Festival on Friday, May 31. Tickets are available here
– By Ian Caramanzana
Culture Abuse photos by Anthony Constantine
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